September 2010 Archives

Yes, believe it or not, Valparaiso's first exhibition game is less than five weeks away, the long-awaited, endlessly discussed and highly anticipated Clash of the Titans with Mighty Olivet Nazarene on Oct. 30.

Less than five weeks? Seems like high school football season just started.

Anyway, the good folks at the Horizon League already have sent out their preseason all-league ballots to the media -- and it's been a while since indignant Butler fans sent me angry e-mails for daring to say there might be a player or two on other teams better than the last player off the Bulldogs bench -- so here's my preseason ballot.

With eight of 10 all-league players returning, there won't be a whole lot of suspense here, I'm afraid. And for the record, I didn't consider any newcomers. Sorry, Ray McCallum, Jr. That's not to say I'll be the least bit surprised if he's on this list at the end of the season (you know, when it actually means something and isn't just a silly exercise for message board fodder at the end of a long, boring offseason).

FIRST TEAM1. Shelvin Mack, Butler -- My pick for player of the year, narrowly over Norris Cole. He earned it with his stellar play in the NCAA Tournament. He's the most NBA-ready player in the league, for what that's worth, and with Gordon Hayward gone, he'll become an even bigger factor offensively.

2. Norris Cole, Cleveland State-- Great scorer, great passer and smart with the basketball, too. A rare combination.

3. Brandon Wood, Valparaiso-- The best offensive player in the league, without question. Capable of scoring 30 every night. And that's why he's here. An underrated rebounder, too. But he needs to significantly improve his defense (as just about every VU player does) to truly be an elite player.

4. Rahmon Fletcher, Green Bay-- Another big-time scorer, he'll really be tested this year without much help (or, at least, experience) up front.

5. Eli Holman, Detroit-- Why this guy doesn't get more love from around the league baffles me. He's the single-most intimidating player on the court. So what if he can't score from more than six feet out? He's the top rebounder, the top shot-blocker (by a huge margin) and a one-of-a-kind monster center in a league dominated by guards. Nobody in the league alters an opposing coach's game plan the way Holman does.

SECOND TEAM6. Cory Johnson, Valparaiso-- VU's most valuable player by a wide margin. If this guy got any help at all in the front court (looking at you, Kevin Van Wijk and Hrvoje Vucic), he'd be an utterly dominant power forward. Instead, he's just a really good center. VU will take that.

7. Chase Simon, Detroit-- If McCallum's as good as everybody says he is, than Simon could stand to benefit the most.

8. Ronald Nored, Butler-- His minimal offense (just five games of double-digit points last year) prevent him from being higher -- and maybe that's only because Butler didn't NEED him to score much -- but don't kid yourself. Nored's a brilliant, lock-down defender. And you can never have enough guys like that.

9. Vaughn Duggins, Wright State-- Seriously, is this guy ever going to graduate? He's like the new Brandon McPherson. Must be in his mid-30s by now. Still a heck of a player, though. How will he fare without longtime running buddy Todd Brown?

10. Matt Howard, Butler-- Of course, Howard will be on the first team when the results of this ballot come out. Might even be preseason player of the year. He has the highest name recognition in the league, and he's had a very good career. Any team would love to have him, no doubt. All I'm saying -- and all I've been saying, and getting flamed over -- is he is not one of the five best players in the Horizon League. Was the fourth-best player on his team last year, and will be third-best player on his team this year. Nothing to sneeze at on a team as good as Butler. But look at the numbers last year -- good, not great: Seventeenth in scoring, 11th in rebounding, fifth in field-goal percentage, seventh in blocked shots, fouled out of nine games, reached four fouls in 13 other games. Maybe with Hayward gone, he can reclaim ownership of the Bulldogs and return to the form he showed as a sophomore. I wouldn't be surprised. But for now, he's a second-teamer. And young Mr. McCallum, among others, could have a say in whether he stays here.

OK, now that that's out of the way... who's ready for that Valparaiso-Merrillville showdown on Friday night?

Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman has said a few times this year that the end of his illustrious coaching career is near. "I always wanted to make it to 40 years," he said. Well, this is Year No. 39. And on the off chance it winds up being his last at the helm of the Vikings, what a way to go out. And next Friday's showdown at Demaree Stadium with Merrillville -- the consensus top two teams in the region playing, essentially, for the Duneland Conference championship -- is the reason Hoffman is still coaching. "It really has been such a fun year," he said last week.

Here's a quick and dirty breakdown of who's got the edge this Friday:

OFFENSEBoth teams are capable of putting up a lot of points (Merrillville scored 68 on Michigan City, Valparaiso put up 49 on the Wolves), but as deep and talented as the Vikings are, they don't have anyone like Merrillville's Denzel Pierce. And Pirates QB Zach Raspopovich is an experienced signal-caller who can carry the offense on the rare occasion when Pierce is shut down. Valparaiso's Paul Andrie is more of a game-manager, and it remains to be seen if he can do the heavy lifting should tailbacks Bryon Duncan and Andrew Kittridge struggle.EDGE: Merrillville

DEFENSELaPorte put up nearly 400 yards of offense against Merrillville last night in an eyebrow-raising 42-41 Pirates victory. Portage scored 27 on the Pirates, Crown Point posted 21 and even Andrean moved the ball well for much of a 27-13 loss in Week 2. Valparaiso, meanwhile, blanked Michigan City, held Penn and Crown Point to seven points each, LaPorte and Chesterton to 14 points each and Griffith to 21. The Vikings might not have the team speed on defense that Merrillville has, but they plug the gaps and fly to the ball and bend but don't break and all those other cliches coaches love to throw around. EDGE: Valparaiso

SPECIAL TEAMSThere might not be a team in the state that can match up to Sam Ficken and the Valparaiso kicking game. EDGE: Valparaiso

So who wins? Well, Hoffman said that you only have to win two out of the three -- offense, defense and special teams. Well, Valparaiso has the edge in two of three. But the game is at Merrillville. And the Pirates have won 14 straight games against Duneland teams, including the playoffs (the last team to beat them? Valparaiso in 2008). Until someone proves otherwise, Merrillville is still the team to beat.

Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman's been coaching for 39 years. And the spate of serious injuries his team suffered last season was unprecedented. So was his response.

For the first time in his career, Hoffman made the Vikings' offseason strength and conditioning program mandatory. Unless you played another sport, you had to have 90 percent attendance or better. If you had less than 90 percent attendance, you could come out for the team, but you wouldn't get to dress until you made up the number of days you missed.

"Some guys have had 30-some days to make up," Hoffman said. "They're just getting in now."

Hoffman took that step because of how last season played out.

"Of the kids who did our program 90 percent of the time, four got hurt, one for the season," Hoffman said. "Of those who played only football and didn't do the program 90 percent, 23 got hurt, seven for the season. And it's paid off. Nobody's been hurt for more than a couple of days, and we're in Game 5 already. The kids are not getting hurt, and if they are getting hurt, they're recovering faster."

One other positive from all the injuries of 2009 is the progress of those kids thrust into major roles a year early. The Vikings are young on the roster, but not inexperienced. As a result, they're 4-0 heading into Friday's game against fellow unbeaten Chesterton. Quarterback Paul Andrie is a prime example of how last year's growing pains have led to this year's success.

"I think it paid off, especially with our quarterback, all those guys being forced into playing time," Hoffman said. "They grow up faster."

To the millions and millions of readers of this blog (um, hi, Dad!), my apologies for it being dormant for so long. I took the last couple of weeks off and spent much of that time clambering around the Canadian Rockies with my lovely and adventurous wife, far out of cell phone range (the key to any decent vacation from work, of course).

Aside from the indescribable beauty of Banff National Park and the surrounding parks, one fringe benefit of the trip was a chance to see the sports world from Canada's vantage point. For one thing, I walked into a sporting goods store and found a New York Islanders jersey, a New York Islanders championship banner, a New York Islanders piggy bank, two New York Islanders hats, a Billy Smith retro New York Islanders T-shirt, and a New York Islanders mirror. When I went to visit my parents in July, I couldn't find a single Islanders jersey anywhere. On Long Island. But in Western Canada? It's Islanderspalooza. And Lightningpalooza. And Coyotespalooza. Heck, it was CaliforniaGoldenSealspalooza. Beyond awesome.

Then there's Canadian sports television. Most of you have probably heard of TSN, the Canadian version of ESPN. The flagship show, amusingly enough to this dumb Yankee, is spelled "SportsCentre." But that's hardly the primary difference between the two channels.

On Aug. 31, roughly 25 minutes of the 60-minute SportsCentre was hockey news. Yes, on Aug. 31. ESPN gave the Blackhawks about five or six minutes when they won the Stanley Cup. This was, again, on Aug. 31. They spent a minute or two dissecting the most minute of signings -- the kind of players that only get mentioned here in the transactions section of the Scoreboard page. They were doing NHL training camp previews. Player features. Analysis.

On Aug. 31.

For a hockey guy like myself, it was heaven.

Sure, I could do without the Canadian Football League news (though it's fun to see all the old college football stars who've migrated north, such as Chris Leak, who's a big deal up there now). And the baseball coverage is a little too heavy on the Blue Jays for my taste, even in Western Canada.

But 25 minutes of hockey? Every night? IN THE OFFSEASON? O, Canada, indeed.

Mark Lazerus

Sports Editor Mark Lazerus has been honored nationally by the Associated Press
Sports Editors for three straight years, was named one of the top three
columnists in the state for three straight years and has won 17 statewide
writing awards. He covers Valparaiso University men’s basketball,
high school football and high school baseball for the Post-Tribune,
where he’s been since October 2004.